Exigent Veil
Exigent Veil was a secret project conducted by a number of Great Beings during the Core War. Prelude During the Core War, the Great Beings send two Agori to retrieve samples of Energized Protodermis for analyzing. These individuals- Raanu and Kyry- succeeded in their task and their employers conducted many experiments with the substances. After several tests, they concluded that tampering with the spring any further could potentially cause a volatile reaction with the substance, destroying Spherus Magna. In response to this discovery, the Great Beings started many projects to undo the damage the impending disaster would cause. History While many of the Great Beings focused their resources on the Great Spirit Robot, a few proposed evacuating from the planet. They would create a device capable of transporting them across space via dimensional gates. The worlds displayed through the portals would be studied for any sustainable environments, as well as possible signs of intelligent life. if such lifeforms existed, they too would be analyzed and studied. Once a candidate world was chosen, the Great Beings would flee to that planet and set up a base there. Should Mata Nui succeed in his mission, a beacon would activate and the Great Beings would return home through the same portal technology. The proposal have drawn criticism from certain individuals however. Angonce was one of the most notable members against the exodus, calling it "the works of cowards turning tail". To him it was a rejection of the hope the construct he was working on represented. A number of other Great Beings shared similar feelings, refusing to take part in it. Others felt that it was justified, feeling that they had failed the planet's populace- if not outright doomed them in the first place- and believed that self-exile was the best thing to do. Overall, the majority of the Great Beings did not seek to follow through with the plan. Those that agreed, however, chose to do so in secret. A hidden bunker was built into a mountain in the Great Jungle, far from the construction of the Great Spirit Robot within the desert sands. It would be christened "Exigent Veil" from that point on. The Bridge Initiative One of the first steps in the operation was creating a means of transporting themselves across space and the dimensions. An engineer behind the project, Velobla, would use the Spirit's Wish as a template for the device. Though he successful reversed engineered the machine, he was stumped on how to expand its abilities. Seeing his brother's dilemma, another individual by the name of Kairos offered aid to him. With his knowledge, the two were able to successfully create a dimensional bridge to an alternate version of Spherus Magna. To their dismay, it was a world where the Element Lords forged an alliance and created a ruthless empire on the planet, with their creators being hunted down by them. Horrified by this discovery, Kairos closed the portal and left for his personal quarters to rest. When Velobla inquired on his friend's personal health, he dodged the question by suggesting they reach other planets instead of dimensions. To that end Velobla would make use of the lab's observatory while Kairos would continue to tinker with the machine. The Shroud Protocol Meanwhile, two other Great Beings -an unidentified male and a female named "Wycha" - would working on the technology for blending in with other lifeforms. Dubbed "Perception Altering Technology" by the duo, the pair attempted to build it in the form of adaptive armors and light-bending cloaks. To test these devices out, the two left the confines of the laboratory and split up. Wycha would travel to the Rock Tribe with the cloak, under the guise of one of their women. Her partner choose to make his to the Ice Tribe. Upon arriving at the main village, one of the female Skrall became suspicious of her. Though she claimed to be a herbalist returning from a failed venture, the woman did not believe her. She attempted to read her mind to get the truth, only to find herself lost in a "mental labyrinth". The Sister was driven mad by the experience, and Wycha was forced to silence her before her cover could be blown. Seeing the experiment as a failure, she returned to her lab to contemplate on a means of defending against telepathic powers. Around the same time, the other Great Being came across a village of Agori, claiming to be a soldier returning from duty. However, the visit was cut short by an avalanche that buried the entire settlement. While the armor protected the scientist, the civilians were not so lucky. Shaken by the experience, he made a journey back to his living quarters. As he trekked along, he wondered if this was the life the average citizen lived through these days, or if this was merely the tip of the iceberg. As he reached the hidden laboratory, this thought eventually spun into an idea. What if he could live through the life of another lifeform? What if he could see through the eyes of another? The Tear Incident As time marched on, Kairos grew more and more concerned about the future of his world. Still haunted by the alternate universe he and Velobla discovered, he wondered if a similar scenario could occur in his reality as well. He began attempts at peering into the future, constructing a (and presumably the first) Mask of Clairvoyance. The only problem was that he needed a being who could test it. During a break from his work, he noticed Xeal splitting from the rest of his peers. Curious, he attempted to follow him, but lost him as he went around a corner. Xeal grew suspicious and began feeling around the area, eventually pressing a hidden button and revealing a secret chamber. Inside he found statis tubes containing various artificial lifeforms. Some of them were members of the Matoran species that broke the "gender-Element" regulations imposed after Orde's failures. Seeing an opportunity to test his new Kanohi mask, Kairos later meet with Xeal and requested usage of one of his creations. Though his brother politely refused, he revealed his recent discovery to him and threatened to report it to Angonce. Though Angonce wouldn't harm one of his brothers, Kairos knew that Xeal was protective of his creations and counted on the "parental fear" kicking in. Xeal decided to loan him two creations in exchange for preserving the lives of the rest, which his suited his brother just fine. The beings that go on to serve him would be Diaon and Erab, a (male) Toa of Water and another of Ice respectively. After receiving them, he began modifying the two artificial lifeforms. The first of these updates was enhancing a Toa's natural ability to form mental links with other beings, to the point that it was on par with that of a Toa of Psionics. The next involved software that could detect and analyze fluctuations in space-time, split evenly between Earb and Diaon. The final ones would not be implemented until later due to initial lack of resources. Satisfied with the alterations made to the brothers, he had Diaon test out his Mask of Clairvoyance whilst forging a mental link with him. To his disappointment, it did not react to its user's commands, and was thus deemed a failure. Days later, however, it would begin acting on its own accord. The Mask would send conflicting visions to Diaon at random intervals and disrupt his (and by extension Kairos') work. The Toa was nearly driven to the brink of madness and the Great Being failed to mediate his degrading sanity. Erab quickly formed a mental link with Diaon and was able to undo the psychological damage. TBW Yet shortly after Kairos's apparent demise, the group suddenly found themselves with a larger supply of resources. An anonymous source had expressed their interests in the project and wished to see its fruition. Attempts to identify them have failed. With these new supplies, they were able to create constructs for security and construction. Many more machines would be sent out to scout new worlds and send back data collected. Aftermath TBW... Before their departure, Velobla would give the data behind his dimensional-gate experiments and the shapeshifting armor to Artakha, who would use it to create the Kanohi Olmak, the Mask of Clairvoyance, and Adaptive Armor. Known Individuals Involved * Xeal * Kairos * Entilfe - Deceased * Zifalok * An unidentified Great Being who later took on the alias of "Velika". * Wycha - Later adopts the identity of "The Shadow"; Deceased * Trevunis * "Whiteout" Quotes about the project Trivia * The term "PAT" was suggested by BobTheDoctor27. Category:Events